Joseph Smith's prophecy of the Civil War

Answers portal
Joseph Smith, Jr.
RESOURCES
Martyrdom Healings and miracles Priesthood restore date Alleged false prophecies
Legal trials 1826 trial Kirtland Safety Society Nauvoo city charter Nauvoo Expositor The Council of Fifty The Hurlbut affidavits Politics
"Amusing recitals"/Tall Tales? Occultism and magic Jupiter talisman Masonic distress cry Treasure seeking Seer stones
As Holy Ghost? Personal failings Boastful about the Church? Role in LDS belief
PERSPECTIVES
Joseph Smith’s Visions: His Style and his Record
MEDIA
OTHER PORTALS
First Vision Book of Mormon Plural marriage Temples

Criticism

Joseph Smith made an 1832 prophecy of the Civil War. Critics scramble to dismiss this prophetic "hit" by various tactics, including:

1. claiming a rebellion was already going on in South Carolina in 1832
2. claiming a civil war was "inevitable," and "anyone" could have predicted it
3. claiming the Church did not publicize the prophecy until after the Civil War started
4. claiming "war was not brought to all nations" by the Civil War and/or claiming there is "no link" between the Civil War and later conflicts
5. claiming slaves did not rise up against their masters in the Civil War

Source(s) of the Criticism

• Richard Abanes, One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church (New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 2003), 267-276 ( Index of claims )
• Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945), 124. ( Index of claims )
• Marvin Cowan, Mormon Claims Answered ^{[citation needed]}
• Ed Decker and Dave Hunt, The God Makers (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1984),, 244. (Detailed review)
• John Farkas, "False Prophecies Of Joseph Smith." ^{[citation needed]}
• Bill McKeever and Eric Johnson, Mormonism 101. Examining the Religion of the Latter-day Saints (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 2000), Chapter 9. ( Index of claims )

Rebellion on-going in South Carolina?

Ed Decker and Dave Hunt claim that Mormons "cover up the fact that the 'prophecy' was made in the midst of an earlier rebellion in December 1832. That rebellion ended quietly a few months later."^[1]

Endnotes

1. [note]  The God Makers, 224, lines 21-24; cited by Gilbert W. Scharffs, The Truth about ‘The God Makers’ (Salt Lake City, Utah: Publishers Press, 1989; republished by Bookcraft, 1994), Chapter 15. Full text FAIR link ISBN 088494963X. direct off-site